Everything about Orange New South Wales totally explained
Orange is a provincial city in
New South Wales,
Australia. It is located on the
Mitchell Highway, also known as
Summer Street as it passes through the central part of the city, west of
Sydney at an altitude of . The
population is approaching 40,000 and the city is a major provincial centre.
Key industries include
agriculture,
mining,
health services and
education. A significant
landmark nearby is
Mount Canobolas at an
altitude of it gives commanding views of the district. Orange is one of the few cities in Australia to receive reasonably frequent snowfalls in winter.
Orange is the birthplace of poets
Banjo Paterson and
Kenneth Slessor, although Paterson only lived in Orange for a very short time as an infant.
History
In
1822 Captain Percy Simpson drove into the Wellington District and established a convict settlement which was called "Blackman's Swamp" after
John Blackman
. Percy had employed John Blackman as a guide because he'd already accompanied an earlier explorer into that region.
In the late 1820s surveyor J. B. Richards worked on a survey of the
Macquarie River below
Bathurst and also of the road to
Wellington. On a plan dated 1829, he indicated a village reserve, in the parish of Orange. It is thought that Sir Thomas Mitchell may have named the parish, as he'd been an associate of the Prince of Orange in the
Peninsular War, when both were aides-de-camp to the
Duke of Wellington, whose title was bestowed on the valley westward, by Oxley.
Legal occupation by graziers began late in 1829, and tiny settlements grew up on the properties and in connection with the road. In 1844 surveyor Davidson was sent to check on encroachments onto the land reserved for a village, and to advise on the location for a township; the choice being Frederick's Valley, Pretty Plains or Blackman's Swamp.
Blackman's Swamp was decided upon and proclaimed a village and named Orange by Major
Thomas Mitchell in
1846 in honour of
Prince William of Orange. At nearby
Ophir the first payable discovery of
gold in
Australia was made in
1851 which led to the
Australian gold rush. Subsequent discoveries of gold in nearby areas led to the establishment of Orange as a central trading centre for the gold. This is contrary to the popular belief that gold was first discovered close to the nearby regional town of
Bathurst, New South Wales.
The growth of Orange continued as the conditions were well suited for agriculture, and in
1860 it was proclaimed a municipality. The railway from
Sydney reached Orange in 1877. In 1946, 100 years after first being established as a village, Orange was proclaimed a
city.
Industries
Orange is a well known
fruit growing district, and produces
apples,
pears, and many
stone fruits such as
cherries,
peaches,
apricots and
plums. Somewhat ironically,
oranges are not grown in the area, as the climate is too cool. In recent years, a large number of
vineyards have been planted in the area for a rapidly expanding
wine production industry. The growth of this wine industry, coupled with the further development of Orange as a gourmet food capital, has ensured Orange's status as something of a tourism capital.
Other large industries include the
Cadia gold mine and an
Electrolux white goods factory. Orange is also the location of the
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries head office, and a campus of
Charles Sturt University (formerly part of
University of Sydney).
Orange High School is the largest school in the city. Other secondary schools located within the city are Canobolas Rural Technology High School, Kinross Wolaroi College and James Sheahan Catholic High School.
Media
Orange has several radio stations, such as 105.1
2GZFM, 105.9
Star FM, 107.5 Community Radio, 103.5
Rhema FM and 1089AM - a commercial station that gets most of its programming from
2SM in Sydney. Recently a new radio station, Classifieds Radio, opened and broadcasts on 88.0FM.
Electronic media is represented by the
ABC, and television by
Prime,
WIN and
Southern Cross Ten.
The local newspaper is the
Central Western Daily and the MidState Observer.
Transport
Orange is situated on the Mitchell Highway, linking the city to
Bathurst to the East, and through to Molong, Wellington, Dubbo and
Bourke to the north west. Due west are Parkes and Forbes, which is midway along the Newell Highway, running from Brisbane to Melbourne. In 2007 a bypass road, known as the northern distributor road, was opened for use after decades of planning. Orange is also serviced by a regional-class airport,
Orange Airport.
Railways
Orange has two railway stations. The main station, on the
Main Western Line to
Bourke, opened in 1877 and is served by the daily
Countrylink XPT service between Sydney and
Dubbo and the weekly Xplorer service between Sydney and
Broken Hill. A smaller station, opened in 1970, known as
Orange East Fork lies on the
branch line to Broken Hill and is served by the twice-weekly
Indian Pacific service to
Perth.
Sister Cities
Orange is a sister city to:
Notable citizens
Billy Bevan, actor
Sir Charles Cutler (politician)
Sir Neville Howse VC (military service - Australia's first Victoria Cross recipient, physician, politician)
Frederick Hanson (New South Wales Police Commissioner)
Banjo Paterson (poet)
Mark Furze (actor)
Kenneth Slessor (poet)
Murray Cook (Red Wiggle)
Image:Sircharlescutler.jpg|Sir Charles Cutler.
Image:VCNevilleReginaldHowse.jpg|Sir Neville Howse.
Image:Banjo Patterson.jpg|Banjo Paterson.
Image:Mark Furze.jpg|Mark Furze.
Image:Murray Cook110807.jpg|Murray Cook.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Orange New South Wales'.
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